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HOT PROPERTY LOS ANGELES TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 WSCEPROPERTY TALK
As one of the leading interior
and textile designers in the United
States, Kathryn M. Ireland has
written six books, starred in Bra-
vo’s “Million Dollar Decorators”
and brought her whimsical, no-
nonsense bohemian style to the
homes of A-list celebrities, includ-
ing Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Steve
Martin. Now with the launch of her
website the Perfect Room, she’s
bringing the best of the design
world to everyone’s doorstep.
Think of it as an elite Pinterest,
committed to the “bespoke and
custom,” she said.
“It’s always interested me how
we could make the design industry
streamlined,” said Ireland, who en-
visioned a platform that offered in-
spired interior designs from the
best in the field, as well as every-
thing for purchase to achieve that
exact look.
The team of 12 designers — in-
cluding Ireland, Rachel Ashwell,
David Netto and fellow “Million
Dollar Decorators” Martyn
Lawrence Bullard and Jeffrey Alan
Marks — created spaces for out-
doors, living areas, bedrooms and
even hallways, with a variety of aes-
thetics and moods.
If Ashwell’s cushy white couch
and feminine accents in her “An-
tique Inspired” living room aren’t
your fancy, you may prefer Marks’
leather-laden “Modern Malibu” liv-
ing room.
“You can buy a whole room or
one piece from the room. The more
you buy, the better price you get,”
said Ireland, whose $65,286 Cape
Cod living room is the most expen-
sive full suite of the 37 currently
available on the site (her $5,965 Re-
laxed Ibiza Patio carries the lowest
overall price tag).
The virtual shopping bag can
hold several entire rooms, or indi-
vidual items — a melamine dinner
plate for $19, or a pedestal dinner
table that’s more than $10,000. A
menu of services includes drawing
up a floor plan, a personalized de-
sign consultation, and delivery and
installation of furniture, fabric and
framed art for the walls.
“We all know how to work with
different budgets, and I thought it
was a great way to reach a lot of
people in parts of the country that
aren’t as well served as we are in
bigger cities,” Ireland said.How did you get your start in
interior design?
When I moved to L.A., I was in
the film business and married to a
director, and before we bought a
house we moved every year to a
bigger house because we had
another child. So I got really good
at re-creating a home quickly. I
can’t bear living out of boxes. By
the time we moved in, the house
was done and the curtains were
hung.Do you have a trademark aes-
thetic you bring to your different
projects and designs?
Bohemian, livable, comfortable
— English country meets Cali-
fornia beach life. I just like rooms
that make you feel good when you
walk into them.
So often there will be beautiful
homes but when you walk into
them, they’re stagnant, with no
energy. So it’s about creating the
energy, lifestyle and knowing how
to live.What needs and trends are you
noticing most from homeowners
these days?
I think it’s accessibility. The
clients and people we’re attracting
don’t have much time but trust
our style. A lot of the people that
I’m seeing are women over 50 who
are helping their kids and have
used decorators before and know
what they’re doing, are very savvy
and worldly and created their own
style. Because of things like
Airbnb, instead of keeping their
money in the bank, people are
investing in second, third or even
fourth holiday or rental homes, or
helping their kids invest in proper-
ties.Were any items made especially
for the Perfect Room?
I did a furniture collection
that’s available only on the site.
These are all items I’ve been cus-
tom-making for clients over my
25-year career. They’re now avail-
able at a better price point.Tell me about your design boot
camps and workshops.
People came to me over three to
four days and we’d talk about how
I became a decorator, PR, floor
plans, budgets and agreements.
We’d send a questionnaire about
what they wanted to learn; some
people would be working on one
room, some people were getting
ready to work with an architect
and wanted to know the protocol.
We’d go to the flea market in Santa
Monica, showrooms and work-
shops, and spend one-on-one time
with designers like Martyn
Lawrence Bullard. Jeffrey Alan
Marks would come to dinner, or
anyone who was available. They’re
such a success.A-list design at everyone’s fingertips
‘Million Dollar Decorators’
star launches the Perfect
Room, a site committed to
the ‘bespoke and custom.’
By Arielle Paul
CELEBRITYinterior and textile designer Kathryn M. Ireland at her home in Santa Monica.Photographs by Carolyn ColeLos Angeles TimesIRELANDsays her aesthetic is “bohemian, livable, comfortable.”